wordwatching

At the crossroads of language and culture

Dedicated to the study of language variation and change in American English, with special regard to the West, pop lyrics, and social media.

References to states in Top Ten music

March 08, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in lyric analysis, music video essay

A post on the use of state names in Top Ten music (1951-2016). Features videos from Adele, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, and Otis Redding, as well as a link to a word search.

"Phone" home or anywhere else in pop music

March 07, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in lyric analysis, lexical variation

An examination of variants of "telephone" in songs from Billboard's year-end Top Ten charts (1951-2016)

"Roadways through the mountains" in the Middle Rockies

February 28, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in corpus dialectology, dialectology, lexical variation, Western American English

Variants of "roadways through the mountains" in the Linguistic Atlas of the Middle Rockies. Includes link to word search puzzle.

"Miracle" in Top 30 music

February 22, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in music video essay

A music video essay of songs featuring the word miracle. Includes songs by Supertramp, Billy Ocean, Roxette, and Kenny Loggins.

All things Russian in Top 30 music

February 21, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in music video essay

A music video essay on references to Russia in pop music. Features songs by Eminem, Jamie Foxx, Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney and Sting.

"Heaven" and "hell" in Top Ten music

February 19, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in lyric analysis

A post on the terms heaven and hell in Top Ten music

"God" and "devil" in Top Ten music (1951-2016)

February 16, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in lyric analysis, lexical variation, variation in lyrics

A look at uses of variants of "God" and "devil" in popular music

"Love" in Top Ten Music (1951-2016)

February 14, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in music video essay

A music video essay featuring songs of love in Billboard's year-end Top Ten charts (1951-2016). Features songs by Redbone, The Beatles, Wings, The Righteous Brothers, Lady Gaga, and Alicia Keys.

Variants of "devil" in the Linguistic Atlas of the Middle Rockies

February 12, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in dialectology, lexical variation

Variants of "devil" elicited from informants from Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming for the Linguistic Atlas of the Middle Rockies.

Variants of "God" in the Linguistic Atlas of the Middle Rockies

February 08, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in corpus analysis, corpus dialectology, dialectology, language variation, lexical variation

A post presenting variants of "God" in the Linguistic Atlas of the Middle Rockes

Football references in Top 30 music

February 05, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in music video essay

A music video essay comprising songs that in songs from the Billboard year-end Top 30 charts (1951-2016) that include references to football. Features songs by John Mellencamp, Jay-Z, and Gwen Stefani. Accompanied by word search.

References to musical instruments in Top Ten music

February 02, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in lyric analysis

References to the names of musical instruments in the lyrics of Billboard's year-end Top Ten songs (1951-2016)

Word searches

January 24, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in review

A compilation of posts that include word searches

Edgar Allan Poe and pop music

January 20, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in corpus analysis, lyric analysis

A lexical analysis of Poe's writings on his birthday, and an application of these words to songs from Billboard's year-end Top 10 charts (1951-2016). Includes word search and two relevant videos.

MLK and pop music

January 18, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in corpus analysis, corpus linguistics, lyric analysis

An analysis of the most frequent words in a collection of speeches and writings of Martin Luther King, Jr., and their use in Top 10 music (1951-2016)

Love is...

January 12, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in lyric analysis

A post on the "love is" construction in Top Ten music. Includes video clips and a link to a related word search puzzle.

"Texas" in Top 30 music (1951-2016)

January 11, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in music video essay

Music video essay featuring songs from the Billboard year-end Top 30 charts (1951-2016) with the word Texas in them. Includes songs by Lady Gaga, Steve Miller, Thin Lizzy, and ZZ Top.

More on "work" in Top Ten music

January 06, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in music video essay

Top Ten songs (1951-2016) featuring forms of the word work

2016 year-end Top Ten and Thirty lyrics in review

January 04, 2017 by Lamont Antieau in lyric analysis

"Midnight" in the garden of Top 30 music

December 31, 2016 by Lamont Antieau in music video essay, lyric analysis

The term midnight as it appears in songs of Billboard's year-end Top 30 songs